Some Facts Related to Mobility and Sprawl

Below are some facts from a chapter called Mobility and Sprawl in Bowling Alone, published in 2000. While these facts are dated and national in scope, they reveal behavior trends that continue to this day, and impact local traffic and parking. Rather than draw conclusions here, I’ll post more about this soon.

Smaller Households with More Cars

for decades the number of single-occupancy vehicles in use has increased

we’ve gone from 1 car per household to nearly 2 per household in 1995

this is remarkable considering the household size has shrunk from 3.6 to 2.6 members

by 1990, America had more cars than drivers

We Invest More in Our Cars

between 1969 and 1995, we increased our financial and time investments in cars

the length of the average commute increased 26%

the length of the average shopping trip increased 29%

the number of commuting trips per household increased 24%

the number of shopping trips per household almost doubled

the number of other trips for personal or family business more than doubled

Passenger Occupancy has Declined 50%

during this same quarter-century, each trip was more likely to be made alone

the average vehicle occupancy fell from 1.9 in 1977 to 1.6 in 1995

for trips to and from work, the average occupancy fell from 1.3 to 1.15

by definition, vehicle occupancy cannot fall below 1

therefore this represents a 50% occupancy decline in passenger commuting

Some Commuting Data

commuting accounts for a little more than one-quarter of all personal trips

but given the structure of our lives, it is the single most important trip of the day

the number of people working from home has risen

however the proportion of home workers to total workers remains tiny (< 4% in 1997)

the % of people who drive to work alone has risen from 61% in 1960 to 91% in 1995

other modes of commuting – public transport, walking, etc. – have all declined

mass transit plays a small, declining role in most major metros

mass transit accounted for only 3.5% of all commuting trips in 1995

Some Carpooling Data

carpooling has also fallen steadily for more than two decades

the fraction of all commuters who carpool has been cut in half since the mid-1970s

this fraction is projected to reach only 7-8% by 2000

bottom line: by end of the 1990s, 80-90% of all Americans drove to work alone

this is a major increase over the 64% who drove to work alone as recently as 1980

We’re Commuting Farther

we are commuting farther than ever before

from 1960 to 1990, the # of workers who cross county lines more than tripled

between 1983 and 1995, the average commuting trip grew 37% longer in miles

ironically, travel time increased by only 14%

We’re Commuting Faster

travel time increased by < trip length because average speeds increased

the average speed of all modes of transport combined increased by nearly 25%

the switch from carpools to mass transit to SOVs was quicker for individual workers

however the switch has been socially inefficient

suburb-to-suburb commuting increased

work hours became more flexible

We’re Alone Longer in Our Cars

68 urban areas were studied, from LA to Corpus Christie to Cleveland to Providence